


the boy from the southside

by edamamechips



Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Mild Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, i mean atleast i hope so, this is basically just me trying to write fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:09:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26668750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edamamechips/pseuds/edamamechips
Summary: love isn't always enough for two people to be together if the time isn't right."We were the wrong age for love and yet it was all we could think about."~Brendan Cowell
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 34
Kudos: 48
Collections: 8th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> beta-d by the amazing and talented human blessing janet (@easyluckyfree45)

**_Present_ **

Betty was officially having the worst day of her life. The coffee stains on her white blouse and her usually perky ponytail falling apart haphazardly were visible testimonials. Betty Cooper, the perfect employee and the youngest Chief Editor of one of New York's most successful publishing houses, was running late for the most important meeting of the year. It all began with that damned phone call two days ago.

_“Betty, you cannot avoid this town forever. You are well aware that you had to return someday. And that time has come. Do not ignore this, Elizabeth. Stop running away from your demons,” Polly had said solemnly._

Betty’s mother was sick but that wasn’t anything new. Alice Cooper had been sick for the past few years and unfortunately, Alice had just a few more months left. And according to her mother’s last wish of spending the last of her days with her daughters, Betty was obligated to return to that godforsaken town as if aiding all her family’s financial responsibilities wasn’t enough.

Since then, everything had gone downhill. Her meeting got shifted to an earlier date resulting in her working overtime, making her the most loathed boss in the office, and completely draining her in the process; and today her morning began with her spilling coffee all over herself.

No matter how hard she tried, the demons she wanted to bury always haunted her. And now she had no choice but to slay them headfirst. 

The worst one being the ghost of **_him_**.

_▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎_

Standing outside the all-too-familiar red door, she sighed. Returning to the same place that was a recurring character in her nightmares. 

She knocked. A familiar blonde appeared on the other side, eyes wide and eyebrows disappearing into her hairline 

"Betty, you came. I thought--"

"No, that's okay. After your phone call, it's the least I could do. Where's Mom?"

"She-uh-she's inside." 

Betty nodded and stepped through the door. 

_Here goes nothing._

_▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎_

After Betty found her mother sleeping, she decided to brace herself for the worst and ended up in one of her favorite places in the world: Pop's diner.

With steaming cheesy fries on her plate and a melting milkshake in front of her, Betty felt more grounded.

I can do this. It'll all be over in a few days. He's probably not even in town anymore--

Raven curls and black leather halt her thoughts and she's suddenly overcome with a wave of emotions as she looks up. Crystal blue eyes find her green ones and she feels the familiar jolt of electricity.

It's him --her prince charming. The name she had filled out pages in her diary: the boy from the Southside.

What was once her haven, now had a starring feature in her worst nightmares: thoughts of what could've been and what she's lost even before she had them.

"Betty Cooper. It’s been a long time."

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

He was sitting in front of her. He was sitting on the same vinyl crimson seats they had shared as a lovesick teenager. It was like deja vu: the same breathlessness she experienced in his vicinity whilst he munched down on the same fries they had thrown into each other's mouths in the past. Except then, they laughed at their antics.

Only now, it was accompanied by unwelcome knots in her stomach and butterflies that she had caged for years. Now, there were lines on their foreheads and rougher calluses. Their eyes didn't twinkle with dreams of running away together.

Everything had changed and still, nothing had at all. As if it was a polaroid picture captured years ago and yet tainted under the test of time. A plethora of colors of picturesque sunsets, sparkling Sweetwater River blues, and green pastures that whizzed by flooded her mind. However, these colors paled under the scrutiny of the harsh realities of life.

_▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎_

**_5 years ago_ **

_Betty heard the familiar rocks pelting on her window sill and a smile painted her lips instantly. She giggled and got up from her pale pink bed, rushing to open the windows to let him._

_“Hey there, Juliet. Nurse off duty?” he asked with a lazy grin. A raven lock on his forehead escaped the confines of his beanie. This always made her giddy in the best ways possible._

_“Hi, Juggie. Come on. Let’s go. The earlier we leave the more time we have!” She tossed her bag at him and climbed down the ladder he mounted outside her window._

_The second her feet met the grassy backyard, she grabbed his hands and jumped in his dad’s blue truck. A haze of adrenaline and a high she reached only with him around jolted through her body. His scent enveloped her and his laugh rang in her ears._

_“So Betts, we go to the swimming hole first, right? The water might wake you up, sleepyhead.” He smiled wide at her._

_“Hey! One, you came in way earlier than we agreed and two, one yawn doesn’t mean I am sleepy,” she told him just as she covered yet another yawn behind her hand._

_He smirked at her and she pouted with flushed cheeks, trying to focus her gaze on the green landscape._

_“Aw Betts, come on! Don’t get mad. I was just messing around with you. Let’s go. We’re here.”_

_“Fine.” She looked up into his blue sparkling eyes and couldn't help the grin that bloomed across her face._

_As she dug into her bag to take her swimsuit out, the happiness drained away from her as she discovered she had left it at home._

_“What do we do now, Juggie? I really wanted to swim today.”_

_After a minute he speaks up. “You will, Betts. Come on.”_

_“How? I didn’t bring my swimsuit with me. I can’t get my clothes wet if I don't want my Mum to catch me. We can only go if --”_

_“We go skinny dipping. Now come on,” he says as he swiftly begins shedding the layers of clothing he always donned, even in the heat of the summer months. “Cooper, don’t you dare pull the shy card with me. We used to take baths together,” he says just as he strips his pants off leaving him in just his boxers_

_If being close to him wasn’t enough to make Betty giddy, the sight in front of her sealed the deal. An unfamiliar yet welcome heat spread throughout her body and a shiver ran down her spine._

_“We were five back then,” she shouted in vain after him as he jumped in the cool waters of Sweetwater River. She sighed and stripped down to her pale pink bra and cotton underwear and jumped in before she passed out from embarrassment._

_“Looking a little flushed there, Elizabeth. Let me help.”_

_“Wha-”_

_He caught her off guard while she was still in her Jughead-in-boxers induced haze as he splashed water on her. Her wide eyes looked up into his smirking ones._

_“You are in so much trouble, Forsythe Pendleton Jones,” she said as she jumped on his back and tackled him._

_Minutes of struggle later, both of them panted to catch their breaths as they had managed to completely soak each other from head to toe. Suddenly aware of their close proximities and soaking underwear as Jughead pushed a strand of wet hair that stuck to her face, her breath hitched. Their breaths mingled and their noses almost touched one another's._

_"Jug--"_

_He looked away, distancing himself from her and said a little too loudly, "Let's go get you warmed up, Betts, before we catch a nasty cold." His tone held the same teasing lilt._

_Betty felt the loss of the warmth of his body. The moment slipped from between her fingers before she could even comprehend what was happening._

_▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪_

_"Thank you for keeping me company this summer. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without you, Jug" she said as they laid next to each other after drying themselves._

_“Betts, don’t. You are my best friend. It’s the least I could do. Besides, you are the only one who doesn’t look at me like gum under their shoe on this side of the town.”_

_“Juggie, you can never scare me off. Just because you wear leather jackets and have Serpent tattoos doesn’t make you any different. On the inside, you will always be my best friend who read Nancy Drew and the Baxter Brothers with me in the treehouse for hours on end.”_

_She rolled to her side with her head on her palm and found him staring at her with an unfamiliar twinkling in his eyes and an inviting heat that she could only dream of._

_The air around them crackled with electricity as she closed her eyes to revel in the forbidden comfort that she knew she didn't deserve._

_She opened her eyes to find his closed, reveling in the same feeling._

_"Also--"_

_He opened his eyes just as she leaned in to press a kiss to his lips, pulling back immediately when he didn't reciprocate._

_As she began to stand up, wishing the Earth below would swallow her whole, she felt a tug at her wrist and the warmth of his soft lips on hers._

_She cupped his face in her hands as he slid his hands in her hair. It's slow, yet demanding; a race to quench a lifelong thirst. They sat there, embracing each other with their foreheads touching and heartbeats in sync._

_"I've always wanted to do that," he spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence._

_She quirked her eyebrows in curiosity as he continued_

_“You are the reason why I get out of bed some days, Betts. Your smile and banter are enough to keep me grounded and make me want to be a better person.”_

_She pressed her lips to his again in an urgent motion to convey her feelings to him. At a loss of words, she poured her heart out in the kiss._

_“You’re my anchor too, Juggie. You always have been.”_

_As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in the fleeting colors of dusk as the wispy clouds resembled woven silk in gold and crimson, they both felt entranced in their utopic oblivion. The setting sun was a symbol for better days to come and for once, Betty couldn’t wait for what comes next._

_▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a big warm hug to angel on earth Janet (@easyluckyfree45) for beta-ing this for me  
> thank you so much for dealing with my migraine inducing grammar love. 
> 
> also love to jana, kate and lisa because they are amazing.

_5 years ago_

_In the next few summer months of rainless and muggy weather, Betty found comfort under the scorching July sun, holding hands with the boy she loved. After their ethereal confession of love by the riverbanks, they spent every waking minute with each other. Whether she was planning picnics or sneaking out at night to go stargazing with him, Betty was filled with joy and happiness she had never felt before. She loved the times where they were chomping down on cheesy fries together._

_“Betty, you shouldn’t be spending so much time with that Southside boy. Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean you should do whatever you want like committing crimes with that indolent slob,” Alice Cooper said to Betty over breakfast one day._

_“Mom, Jughead and I have been best friends since we were children. Just because he is from the other side of the town doesn’t make him a criminal by default,” Betty told her, tired of her mother’s nagging._

_“Whatever Betty. I don’t want you to get distracted by some Southside snake in a leather jacket and metal cuffs. Now finish your grapefruit and get back to your assignments,” Alice instructed as she got up to collect the rest of the dishes._

_Betty sighed and headed up her room, trying to clear her mind from her mother’s toxic words that were already encroaching upon her thoughts._

_She and Jughead had never talked about the future and what happens after the end of the vacations. Was this all a summer fling to him? Was he going to tag along to Yale with her? Was he even going to college? Had she gotten the wrong idea all along?_

_Betty shook these obstructive thoughts off and decided to focus on her excitement for their weekly stargazing night. It was one of her favorite things to do with him. She loved pouring her heart out to him underneath the night sky, coupled with her endless astronomy trivia as he looked at her like she was a star in his endless sky. If Betty could live in one moment for the rest of her life, it would definitely be one of these._

_As the orange sky melted into pinks and blues of the night sky, she heard the familiar soft knocks of rocks plinking against her window, bringing along an electricity to her nerves and the familiar giddiness she loved._

_As Betty opened the window, it was as if she could breathe at last after she had been choking on her thoughts all this time._

_”Hi Betts.”_

_Her favorite voice rang in her ears. The smile directed at her made her feel alive again._

_▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪_

_"...and that's the Ursa Major also known.as the Little Bear.” She smiled brightly at him as she finished._

_"That's weird. Why is it called the little bear again, Betty? It literally looks nothing like a bear. More like a pot with a ladle, probably with some spaghetti cooking in it," he said, grinning at her trying to get a reaction out of her._

_"Juggie, it's just a name. Your name is Jughead for crying out loud. Also, stop talking about food. Don't tell me you're hungry again." She paused to look into his twinkling eyes. "We just had Pop's!"_

_"You can never have too much food, Betty," he said, as they both burst out laughing, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist._

_The feeling of his arms around her as stars illuminated the sky, her heart filled with contentment. It was the promise of life in the darkness; a sense of warmth sprang from the cold. They laid beneath the midnight scape with fingers interlaced and his familiar scent filled her lungs; it was as if time had halted just for them._

_And then came her intrusive thoughts that tainted their comfortable trance with palpable tension as minutes passed by. Betty grew stiffer in his embrace._

_Sensing a change in her demeanor, Jughead broke the silence. "Is there something wrong, Betty? Do you want to head home?" His tone was unsure as he looked down at her._

_"What? No. Why would you say that?” she asks him with a pitch higher than normal. “Everything is fine. Completely fine. For now.” Her voice grew quieter._

_“What do you mean, Betty?”_

_“For now. All this is just temporary to you, right? A summer fling to help you stay entertained during the vacations. Not that you are busy filling out applications for college or anything.” The words spilled out before she could even process what she’s saying._

_“Where is this coming from, Betty? And why would you say something like that? I love you, Betty Cooper. You are so much more than a summer fling to me. And I thought we would figure out college when the time comes, together,” he told her with a soft tone. Something about it told her that she hit a sensitive spot._

_“ --and what exactly are we going to figure out, Jughead? I’ll be leaving for Yale in a few months and you made it clear your Southside legacy is more important to you. More than your education, more than me.”_

_“Betty, baby, don’t say that. You are the most important thing in my life. You are all that matters to me. We will figure something out, Betty. I just need you to give me some time -- a year at most is all I’m asking.” His eyes were on her, searching for something, ”Betty, you aren’t acting like yourself. Tell me what’s wrong and we can solve this together.”_

_And with that Betty's resolve wore thin and tears fell from her eyes in rapid succession._

_“I'm so sorry, Jughead. I didn’t mean anything that I said. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just my mother said some things this morning and the stress of everything that is going to change once the summer is over jumbled up my thoughts completely. I am sorry, Jug. I-I am sorry.” She clung to him, soaking a spot on his shirt._

_He held her close, running his fingers through her hair. “Shh, it’s okay, Betts. I know you didn’t mean them. I wish I could take the pain away from you. I wish we could just run away. Just hop in my truck and leave Riverdale where there is no Northside or Southside. No small-town civil wars or borders trying to tear us apart.”_

_“No overbearing mothers trying to dictate our lives. Like Romeo and Juliet but we live happily ever after instead.” She looked into his glassy eyes, a tear rolling down her face as she gave him a watery smile._

_They held each other, looking up at the still midnight velvet with brilliant stars illuminating the infinite sky. Their breaths mingled as they shared body heat -- a moment of tranquility unraveled as grim epiphany dawned on them._

_“But we can't, can we? And at the end of the day, I cannot pause my whole future for you and you cannot leave your legacy here.” She heard his breath stilling and felt him tightening his hold around her._

_“Betty, please. You don’t have to go through this alone. We can get through this together. I love you, Betty. You are all I have. Please don't give up on us.”_

_“Jug, you and I both know that this isn’t going to work. I love you, Jughead Jones. My heart belongs to you, now and forever. I am not giving up on us. But sometimes, love and hope aren’t enough to hold two people together. Everything has a reason and time to happen and this wasn’t ours. Maybe in the future or in another life, we’ll be away from this godforsaken town and together forever.”_

_She heard him sniffle and the tears in her eyes returned. “We should be heading out before it’s too late, Jug,” she whispered in his ears, softly running her fingers through his midnight locks._

_“Let’s just stay here for the night. Let me hold you before you leave me, Betty. We can do that, can’t we?” he asked her quietly._

_“Yes. yes, we can.”_

_They held each other tightly, so close that they could feel each other’s wet cheeks. His head rested on her chest, their warm breaths intermingling. Their fingers drew patterns on one another’s skin for the last time._

_“I’ll always be right here.” She tapped at his heart and held him closer._

_▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪_

_Present_

Betty hadn’t stopped crying the whole night after Jughead had dropped her off. Tears had welled from deep inside her every time she thought about him. They cut off all contact, erasing each other from their lives like they were two strangers.

Was it all just a fever dream the warm summer nights had induced? The love that she found with him was too good to be true; she had to let go of the mirage-like happiness she had found with him. Her mother had been right all along.

Betty shook herself from those memories she had kept buried deep inside for all these years; they brought nothing but pain with them. She looked up at the vision in front of her for the umpteenth time since he had occupied the seat in front of her, hoping it was just her vision playing tricks on her. 

“Why are you doing this?”

He looked up from his plate of fries that he had been so intently focused on for the past ten minutes. He raised his eyebrows feigning innocence, as if nothing was wrong with the fact that he was sitting with his first love after 5 years of silence.

“What do you mean? Eating my fries? I do this every day. I--”

“Jughead, you know exactly what I mean. We aren’t friends and we don’t sit together at Pop’s booths sharing cheesy fries like delusional lovesick teenagers anymore.” Betty couldn’t believe the audacity of this man she had once hoped to spend her whole life with.

“Betty Cooper, you always had to draw conceited conclusions about every situation. Not everything is about you, sweetheart. This booth is mine and I come here every day. I have been for the past 5 years, unlike you. And I am not sharing these fries with you. The last person I would share my food with is you. It seems like you are the one who has occupied my regular booth and now is assuming I would share my food with her,” he replied coolly as he goes back to paying attention to the plate in front of him, completely ignoring her.

“Why are we doing this, Jughead?” She sighed.

“I don’t know, Betty. Why don’t you tell me?” His tone made it clear that he didn’t want to engage in any conversation with her.

Betty is left dumbfounded by his attitude towards her. But again she was the one who had stomped all over his heart all those years ago even if she was doing it for both of them at that moment.

“...a phone call would’ve been nice,” she mused out loud, hoping he would hear her. She catches him sighing, indicating that he has indeed heard her. 

“Betty, I-I can't do this again-” He sighed, running his fingers through his inky locks.

“Again? Jughead, we have never done this. Not even once. For the past five years, we have been ghosts in each other’s lives. It makes me question the existence of what we had. Was it all a lie? A figment of my imagination?”

“Betty-” He reached out to hold her hand but she flinched away from his warm touch. “-it-it was real, Betty. What I felt for you, the emotions we shared, the vulnerability was all real. I loved you and that summer we shared some of the best moments of our lives.” He gave her a smile, hesitantly waiting for her reply.

“I-I loved you too, Jug. But--” A tear rolled down her cheek. 

Jughead slipped his hand into hers as she gave in to the all too familiar warmth, feeling a jolt run up her spine.

“--you completely cut me out. You stopped coming to my window and I didn't see you at school. I felt ignored. You abandoned me and our friendship, Jug. What I did was for the best, for both of us.” A steady stream of tears were rolling down her wet cheeks now and Jughead reached out to wipe them away.

“I left Riverdale, Betty. I went to Toledo to live with my Mom and completed high school away from the Serpents. My Dad was in no condition to fulfill his duties as a father and my mother had asked me to move in over the summer. But then you told me about how you had no one to spend the summer with and I stayed, for you.” 

She stared at him wide-eyed. “W-why didn't you tell me before? Jughead, I should've been there for you. This is all my fault.”

“Betty, stop, don’t say that. You did what was right for us. Also, I wanted to be better for you and I wasn't right for you then.”

“Jug, don’t say that. All this happened because of the seed of doubt my Mom had planted in my head that I should have never entertained. You were always enough for me, Jughead. It was--”

“No, Betty, I wasn’t. I was involved in the Serpents more than I should have been and I didn't have anything planned out for myself. I was drowning and I would've brought you down with me in the process.”

“Jug, please don’t-”

“I was outside your window every day until I left for Toledo. I would look at you, wanting to hold your hands while you cried but I wanted to respect your decision.”

Her heart felt like it was breaking again as it had all those years ago. He had been right outside her window all along and she had pushed him away, ultimately driving him out of town.

“I-I can’t do this. I am sorry, Juggie,” she quickly panted out the words with wet cheeks and uneven breaths as she rushed out the door of the diner away from him.

“Betty! Wait!” He tried to follow her but saw her climbing in her car and driving away swiftly before he could even finish his sentence.

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪

_5 years ago_

_Sitting next to each other munching down on peanut butter sandwiches, after convincing Jughead for a picnic despite the rising temperatures, Betty couldn’t wish for anything else in life._

_“Betty, these sandwiches are the best things I've ever tasted..aside from you of course,” he smirked at her, chewing on his bread._

_“Juggie! Stop that.” she giggles, hitting him on his chest_

_“It’s true betty. I wish I could take you out someday when I have my own money and show you the most beautiful places in the world and taste some of the best sandwiches you have ever tasted.”_

_“I am sure you will be brilliant at whatever you decide to Jug. And as for your plans, Jones, I would love that. We could travel anywhere in the world together. We could meet new people and go on train rides together across Europe!”_

_“And you could tell me all about the history and architecture of those places. I could listen to you speak all day.” he looked into her eyes and leaned in to press a kiss on her lips and then her nose._

_“Stop Juggie; that tickles!” she tried to push him off but he’s stronger than her._

_“I cannot leave the serpents now: they depend on me betty and I have responsibilities,” he said earnestly_

_Betty’s stomach dropped a little on hearing that. But she still gave him a smile and ran her fingers through his hair, “sure Juggie. We have all summer to think about it. For now, let’s just be”_

_“Whatever you say love” and they both get lost in each other._

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪

Betty, back home, found herself in the same position as all those years ago -- head buried in her pillow and hidden under her favorite pink duvet. She was spiraling like she had the last time. She had made the boy she loved question himself; made him feel anything less than the brilliant person he is and pushed him away instead of standing beside him.

But only now, she was older and wiser; she had people to look after and a career to maintain. She couldn’t spend her time soaking her pillows with tears over the same man she had cried way too many times for.

With that in mind, she calmed herself down and got up to wash her face and head downstairs. As she took her last step of the stairs she heard the doorbell ring.

“I'll get that!” she called out to her sister.

She opened the door to find familiar blue eyes staring back into her green ones.

“Jug,” she gasped out, “what are you doing here?” She stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her.

“I wanted to thank you, Betty. You changed my life and without you, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

“What do you mean, Jughead?”

“Betty, I am a Professor of English Literature at Greendale College. It is all because of you, Betty Cooper. Without you, I would probably still be working shifts at some grungy biker bar barely scraping through life. I am proud of how far both of us have come in life and you made it happen.”

“You made it happen, Juggie and I am proud of you too.”

“ Also, I hope you are still up for the plans we made.” He looked at her with a glint in his eyes and a lopsided grin that always made her heart flutter.

“Plans of? We haven’t made any plans in years, Jughead,” she asked, confused about what he was talking about.

“I meant plans of running away. Plans made with love and hopes by two teens in love. I still love you, Betty. I don’t think I ever stopped loving you. I don’t think I can. So, will you run away with me, Betty Cooper, if only for a day?”

“If this is your way of asking me out on a date, then yes, Jughead Jones. I would love to go on a date with the man I still am in love with.”

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders to press a hard kiss on his lips. A smile bloomed on both their faces , as their fingers wrapped around each other.

She doesn’t stop smiling when she climbed on the back of his motorcycle and breathed in his familiar scent of leather and pinewood. Betty doesn't stop smiling when he reached around to wrap her arms around his waist and whispered how beautiful she was and how much he loved her. Betty definitely doesn’t stop smiling all the way when she realized that they can be together in this life. For once, Betty looked forward to what the future held for her with her boy from the Southside next to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so that's the end peeps! i hope you liked it and that wasn't too disappointing.
> 
> have a good day and stay safe loves xxx  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> soooo what do we think? much love to you if you read through this you amazing human!  
> also this fic is based on the song 'eastside' by halsey so give it a listen!
> 
> come annhilate me on tumblr if you are inclined @edamamechips


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